Description
Book SynopsisOne of the greatest nineteenth-century scientist-explorers, Alexander von Humboldt traversed the tropical Spanish Americas between 1799 and 1804. By the time of his death in 1859, he had won international fame for his scientific discoveries, his observations of Native American peoples and his detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the 'new continent'. The first to draw and speculate on Aztec art, to observe reverse polarity in magnetism and to discover why America is called America, his writings profoundly influenced the course of Victorian culture, causing Darwin to reflect: 'He alone gives any notion of the feelings which are raised in the mind on first entering the Tropics.'
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Table of ContentsTranslated by Jason Wilson with an Introduction by Malcolm NicolsonMap
Historical Introduction by Malcolm Nicolson
Introduction by Jason Wilson
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Further Reading
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
Author's Introduction
Notes
